Finding Noah

The large lump in Charlene's throat refused to go down even after she had tried her hardest to swallow it. She stared at the man in front of her with pure disdain, her heart burning from the fury within her. Her eyes had already turned red as the weight of the humiliation she was about to face rested on her.

“Miss Hart, I would highly recommend that you do as he says.” The headmistress uttered, giving Charlene a subtle stare. 

“Yes, Miss Hart, do as I say. Unless you want your son out in the streets while others get an education.” Noah almost chuckled, loving the burn and agony in Charlene's eyes. 

Having no other choice, she lowered her head and let out a sigh, slowly getting down to her knees. But before her knees could reach the floor, Harry ran over to Noah and hugged his legs as tightly as he could, sobbing. 

“Friend, please don't punish my mom, she was just protecting me. It's my fault, I talked to a stranger when she asked me not to, that's why she yelled at you. Please don't punish her.” Harry pleaded, his tiny voice bringing tears to his mother's eyes. 

She stood there watching him, her heart heavy and trembling. 

“I'll even beg you on her behalf, please don't let them take me out of school.” He continued, instantly going on his knees. He was about to kiss Noah's feet when Noah quickly picked him up, carrying him in his arms. 

“Don't do that, you should always keep your head up.” Noah told him, ruffling his hair before turning his gaze to Charlene.

“You're lucky I like children.” He snorted, putting Harry down and walking out of the office. The headmistress went after him while Harry ran to hug his mother who was sobbing silently, feeling like she had lost her dignity.

“You're such a good boy.” Charlene whispered to him.

The headmistress walked in and informed them that Harry was no longer going to be expelled. She allowed Charlene to take him home for the day and apologized to her for the inconvenience.

Later that day, Charlene was taking out the trash near the coffee shop when she saw Noah getting out of a car right in front of her coffee shop. He entered without seeing her, so she quietly followed him in and met him speaking to Harry.

“Does your mom own this place?” Noah asked, getting down on one knee to fix Harry's hair. 

“Yes!” Harry answered. 

“You look quite handsome Mr Noah.” Harry said and Charlene's brows raised in shock. 

Noah? That was the name of Harry's father. She found it quite intriguing that the man she hated had the same name as the man she loved dearly. 

“And you look adorable. I love your shirt.” Noah returned, rising to his feet. 

After watching them chat for a while and admiring Noah's gentleness with Harry, she finally walked up to them, breaking up their gossip. 

“What can I get you?” She asked Noah who rolled his eyes at her.

“A coffee, what else would I get from a coffee shop?” Noah questioned, his index finger tapping repeatedly on the counter.

“Black?” 

“Yes.” 

Charlene made the coffee and served him, waiting for him to take his mask off but he didn't. He covered up the coffee and was about to leave when Charlene called him back, blushing a little bit. 

“I wanted to thank you for what happened today. Thanks for not kicking my son out of the school.” She sighed. Harry had left some minutes ago, running off to play in the corner of the shop. 

Noah scoffed, his hand moving to adjust the mask on his face. “This isn't over, Miss Hart. I'm going to make sure that you pay for insulting me.” His voice was low and intimidating, making shivers run down her spine. 

She thought she could put their differences aside, but it was obvious that Noah did not have such plans. He loved getting on her nerves, and he was pretty good at it.

“I was trying to protect my son from a stranger that I did not know.” She fumed, regretting her decision to even speak to him.

“Protect? I was the one protecting him, your recklessness made him an easy target for bullies. If you hadn't opened your legs for every man you meet, I'm sure you would know who his father is.” He snapped, his eyes narrowing in anger. 

Charlene bit her lip. “That's unfair.” Tears stung her eyes. 

“You know what's unfair? Leaving that innocent boy without a father because you couldn't keep your ass in one place.” He fired. Even though she couldn't see his face, his eyes made it very obvious that he was disgusted by her mere presence. She sniffed, trying to hide the tears that had gathered in her eyes.

“Why do you blame me? What about the man who ran from his responsibilities?” Charlene questioned, meeting his gaze, her heart pounding. She had no idea why he was making her weak in the knees at that moment, a familiar feeling that made her a single mother in the first place.

“Whore.” Noah snorted and walked out of the shop, leaving her lost in her thoughts. She ran to the back and cried her eyes out, shattered that a total stranger had read her sins out to her. 

It wasn't her fault, she was promised a better life by the family of the man who got her pregnant. She wouldn't have known that it was all a lie. She spent over five minutes crying before wiping her tears and going back to attend to her customers.

As much as she tried to hate Noah, she couldn't hate him for telling her the truth. But one thing was certain, she never ever wanted to see him again.

——

Charlene and Harry got home from the coffee shop later that night and after putting Harry to sleep, Charlene went to watch television and finish up her food. 

In the middle of her movie, she received a phone call from Vicky who sounded overly excited.

“Charlene! Are you home!?” 

“Yes I am. What's the problem? Did you drink again?” 

“I'm not drunk, just excited! You won't believe what I just saw on the news!” Vicky continued to scream. 

“What did you see? What channel?” Charlene picked up the remote, her heart missing a beat at the thought of what it might be.

“Don't bother, they're already done with that segment. I saw Noah on the news!” Vicky announced and Charlene's heart dropped, right to her feet, leaving her with shaky hands. 

Slowly, she got to her feet, “Which Noah?” Her voice was barely audible. 

“Noah Cooper, the love of your life.” 

“T.. that's not possible. He hasn't appeared anywhere in the past six years, what are you talking about?” She questioned, a tear already dropping onto her shirt. 

“I would not pull your legs Char, you know that. The tycoon, Noah Cooper, is back and is in this city.” 

Charlene found it hard to believe, Noah did not live in that city. She fled his hometown specifically to hide from his terrible mother and sister. So how and why was he in that city?

“But he doesn't live here.” She pointed out.

“He doesn't, but he has several businesses here according to the news. Girl, I think you should go meet him.” 

“Where would I see him? What would I say to him?” Charlene started to pace, sweat trickling down her face as she started to panic. She hadn't officially met the man, she had no idea how to act.

“Calm down Char.” Vicky cooed. “He's going to be at a gala this Friday, and I have an excellent plan to get you in to meet him.” Vicky giggled.

“What's your plan?” Charlene asked, sinking into the sofa.